Mohegan Sun Pocono requests sportsbook permit for The Downs at Lehigh Valley

Downs Racing LP, doing business as Mohegan Sun Pocono, on Friday filed a petition with the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board to conduct sports wagering at The Downs at Lehigh Valley in Hanover Township, Lehigh County. The company also said it is filing a petition with the state Horse Racing Commission for approval to renovate The Downs at Lehigh Valley to accommodate sports wagering.

“The facility is ideally located for a sports wagering operation, as it is easily accessible to sports fans and travelers alike,” the petition reads, as reported by The Morning Call.

The petition does not disclose specifics of the sportsbook or the planned renovations at The Downs at Lehigh Valley, a 28,000-square-foot facility at 1780 Airport Road with a large center bar and full dining room. The petition, which does not provide a timeline for when the sportsbook could open, says jobs in security, admissions and food and beverage will be created at the operation, though that figure was redacted.

Mohegan Sun officials did not respond to an inquiry seeking further comment about its plans. Gaming Control Board spokesman Richard McGarvey said it is early in the process and nothing is scheduled yet before the board. For one, the board’s Office of Enforcement Counsel has 30 days to file a response to Mohegan Sun’s petition.

At Mohegan Sun Pocono near Wilkes-Barre, it took about six months from initial petition filing to get the facility’s 1,130-square-foot sportsbook open. After filing the petition March 27, Mohegan Sun Pocono got the board’s blessing May 15 and then took its first bets Sept. 26, a few weeks into football season, according to the petition. A similar timeline would allow the local sportsbook to open in mid-May, in the middle of the NBA and NHL playoffs.

Elsewhere in the Lehigh Valley, recently rebranded Wind Creek Bethlehem plans to offer sports betting and is in negotiations for a sportsbook, Wind Creek Hospitality Chief Operating Officer Brent Pinkston said last month at the facility’s grand opening. Wind Creek, the gambling and hospitality arm of Alabama’s Poarch Band of Creek Indians, closed on its $1.3 billion purchase of Sands Casino Resort Bethlehem on May 31.

Asked for an update Monday on a potential sportsbook, Wind Creek Bethlehem spokeswoman Julia Corwin said the casino has nothing to announce at this time. McGarvey said the board has not received a petition for sports betting from Wind Creek as of yet.

There are now 12 sports wagering retail locations across the state, with the most recent being The Meadows Racetrack & Casino near Pittsburgh, which took its first bets October 10. Five casinos also are taking sports wagers online, with the Meadows soon to be the sixth as it began testing its online sportsbook Monday. Mount Airy Casino Resort in Monroe County is among the casinos taking wagers at retail and online.

McGarvey confirmed The Downs at Lehigh Valley would be the third off-track betting site with a sportsbook, with Parx Casino also offering sports wagering at its two OTB locations in addition to its Bucks County casino. The board, McGarvey said, has not yet received a petition for The Downs at East Stroudsburg, another one of Mohegan Sun’s OTB sites.

At Mohegan Sun Pocono, the facility partnered with online casino and sports gambling brand Unibet for its sportsbook. That operation features a 28-foot-wide, high-definition video wall, six betting terminals, two teller booths, seating for up to 40 patrons and a bar. That sportsbook, which created 12 to 14 jobs, took about $300,000 in bets during the last few days of September.

“The operation of sports wagering at the Downs-Lehigh Valley will bring new patrons to the facility, likely leading to an increase in tax revenue associated with the facility’s horse racing operations,” Mohegan Sun’s petition reads.